Long Beach City College has announced that a graduate from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program has been recognized as one of the Companies to Watch, an award given at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City’s (ICIC) annual Inner City 100 Symposium. The award honors exemplary companies that have participated in the 10,000 Small Businesses program. The event was held last night, May 9th, at the Harvard Business School in Boston.
Miguel Guajardo of El Camino Construction was recognized by ICIC as one of four companies that demonstrated continued growth and a strong tie to the community throughout its participation in 10,000 Small Businesses and beyond. ICIC is also a national partner of the 10,000 Small Businesses program, funded by Goldman Sachs and the Goldman Sachs Foundation. Within a year of completing the program, El Camino Construction increased its revenues by 135% and hired 4 additional employees.
The Inner City 100 Symposium brings together hundreds of high-growth small businesses from across the country for a full day of cutting-edge management education and networking opportunities. The Symposium is the culmination of the Inner City 100 program, a ranking of the fastest-growing companies located in America’s inner cities. This year’s event featured case studies and how-to workshops from leading content providers including, Harvard Business School, Babson College, Boston University, Next Street and R/GA advertising agency.
“I am honored to be recognized by Goldman Sachs and ICIC,” said Miguel Guajardo. “The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program really opened my eyes to new ways of thinking, and helped refine the core values of the company. We are not just a concrete business; we provide economic opportunity for our customers, employees and the community.”
The Long Beach City College and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses partnership is already making an economic impact. Data from the inaugural cohorts in New York and Long Beach show that 50 percent of the small businesses have added employees and 75 percent of the small businesses have increased revenues within six months of graduation from the program.
LBCC has graduated nearly 100 businesses since the program was launched in June 2010 in Long Beach. The program, designed to create jobs and assist businesses to grow and expand, is accepting applications for its next cohort which will commence in September 2012.